Corallo (submarine)

Italian submarine ''Corallo'' was a built for the Royal Italian Navy (''Regia Marina'') during the 1930s. She was named after a gemstone Coral.

Design and description

The ''Perla''-class submarines were essentially repeats of the preceding . The modifications that were made compared to the boats of the previous series were mostly of upgrade nature. Among them were enlargement of the false tower at the top, more modern engines, installation of a radiogoniometer that could be controlled from inside the ship. Improvements and the installation of new air conditioning equipment meant a slight increase in displacement, and increase in the fuel stowage also increased the autonomy of these boats compared to the previous series.Pollina, p.155 Their designed full load displacement was surfaced and submerged, but varied somewhat depending on the boat and the builder. The submarines were long, had a beam of and a draft of to .Bagnasco, p. 153Pollina, pp.152-153

For surface running, the boats were powered by two diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft with overall power of . When submerged each propeller was driven by a electric motor. They could reach on the surface and underwater. On the surface, the ''Perla'' class had a range of at , submerged, they had a range of at .Bagnasco, p. 153Pollina, pp.152-153

The boats were armed with six internal torpedo tubes, four in the bow and two in the stern. One reload torpedo was carried for each tube, for a total of twelve. They were also armed with one deck gun for combat on the surface. The light anti-aircraft armament consisted of one or two pairs of machine guns.

Construction and career

''Corallo'' was built by CRDA at their shipyard in Monfalcone, laid on 1 October 1935, launched on 2 August 1936 and completed on 26 September 1936.Pollina, pp.152-153

After delivery, ''Corallo'' was assigned to the 34th Squadron (III Submarine Group) based at Messina. After a brief training, she carried out a long endurance cruise in the Dodecanese and the Adriatic. In 1937 she carried out a training campaign, followed by another one in 1938. On October 15, 1938, she was temporarily assigned to Flotilla Submarine school. In 1939 ''Corallo'' returned to active duty, and was assigned to the 72nd Squadron (VII Submarine Group) based at Cagliari where she remained until the end of her career.''Corallo'' at Monfalcone Naval Museum
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Italy's entry into World War II found ''Corallo'' at Monfalcone undergoing repairs and maintenance which were finished in late August 1940. On September 3, 1940, ''Corallo'', under command of captain Loris Albanese, was sent to patrol an area 60 miles south of Crete, between Gaudo and Alexandria. At 18:00 on September 17 ''Corallo'' sighted in the position a zigzagging British column heading towards Alexandria. The British force was made up of the aircraft carrier , battleship escorted by five destroyers returning to Alexandria after bombarding Derna and Benghazi. At 18:30 ''Corallo'' launched two torpedoes from 1,500 meters against and immediately dove down to 80 meters.Giorgerini, p. 244 After 75 seconds two loud explosions were heard, but no ship, however, was hit. ''Corallo'' was then subjected to depth charge attacks by the destroyers which went on for 3 hours. The submarine suffered some damage which impaired her operational efficiency, and two crew members died in the attack. Since the damage to submarine could not be repaired by means available at sea, ''Corallo'' was forced to interrupt her mission and headed to Tobruk which she reached on September 18, 1940.Giorgerini, p. 245

On November 5, 1940, ''Corallo'' and four other submarines (, , and ) were deployed about 90 miles south-east of Malta with the task of intercepting a British convoy, part of Operation "Coat". ''Corallo'' and other submarines formed a barrier with a 20 to 30 miles spacing between them. ''Corallo'', however, did not detect any enemy vessels.Giorgerini, p. 267Bertke, p.108

On January 21, 1941, ''Corallo'' and patrolled off the northern Tunisian coast.Bertke, p.242 ''Corallo'' had to abort her mission almost immediately due to a failure, and the submarine had to return to the base.''Corallo'' on XMasGrupSom
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In February 1941 she was on patrol north of Cape Bougaroun, but engine problems forced the submarine to return to the base.

In April 1941 she patrolled south of Sardinia, but her mission was cut short again, this time because of the adverse weather conditions.

In May 1941 she patrolled around 50 miles west of the island of La Galite without any sightings.

In July 1941 ''Corallo'' was involved in another uneventful patrol southwest of Sardinia.

In October 1941 she was posted off Cap Zebib, but still without success.

On November 3, 1941, ''Corallo'' under command of captain Andreani was deployed west of Malta as a protective screen for a large Italian "Beta" convoy travelling to Libya. Her job was to detect and report any British naval movements west of Malta, and attack the sighted ships when possible. On November 9, 1941, the "Beta" convoy was intercepted and destroyed by British Force K in the Battle of the Duisburg Convoy. Force K managed to leave Malta without ''Corallo'' being able to detect it since it did not pass through her area of operation, but rather through the one controlled by . At sunset, the submarine left her assigned area and moved to her new area of operations off Algeria and Tunisia.

In January 1942 she patrolled between Malta and Capo Passero.

In March 1942 ''Corallo'' again patrolled off Malta.

In April 1942 ''Coralllo'' was sent to patrol off Cape Bon. At 4:10 on April 28, 1942, off Bona, Algeria, ''Corallo'' stopped Tunisian sailboats ''Dar es Salaam'' (138 GRT) and ''Tunis'' (41 GRT). The boats carried a Vichy France flag, but didn't have a special permit allowing them to sail. ''Corallo'' took their crew on board, thirteen men in total, then sank the sailboats with gunfire in the position .Giorgerini, p. 322

In May and June 1942 she patrolled east of the island of La Galite. At 2:00 on June 7, 1942, ''Corallo'' stopped another Tunisian sailboat ''Hady M'Hammed'' (26 GRT). Believing the boat was carrying materials on behalf of the Allies, captain Adreani ordered the crew of the sailboat (6 men) to abandon ship, took them prisoners and then sank the sailboat with gunfire in the position . ''Corallo'' then received an order to patrol another area northwest of Algiers. Upon return to the base, a new commander, captain Guido Guidi, was appointed.

On June 11, 1942, the submarine was sent along with four other submarines (, , and ) to patrol the triangle between Malta, Pantelleria and Lampedusa with the task of interception of a British convoy, part of Operation ''Harpoon''. ''Corallo'' did not, however, sight any enemy ships.Giorgerini, p. 326

In October 1942 she was sent to patrol an area south of the Balearic Islands.

In November 1942 after the launch of Operation Torch she was deployed to patrol an area off Bizerta. ''Corallo'' also penetrated into Philippeville harbor, but there were no ships to attack.

In early December she was deployed together with , , , , , , , and in the western Mediterranean, as a defensive screen protecting Axis convoys to Tunis.

On December 10, 1942, ''Corallo'' sailed from Cagliari to patrol an area between Bona and Bizerta with a task of trying to penetrate Bougie harbor during the night of December 13 and destroying any ships she would have found there. After the departure, ''Corallo'' was never heard from again.

After the end of the war, from British records, it was established that on the night of December 13, 1942, ''Corallo'' 14 miles from Bougie, was spotted and attacked by four British escorts (, , , ) from the KMS-4 convoy, sailing from Gibraltar to Algiers. ''Corallo'' was depth charged, damaged and forced to surface. At this point, according to some sources, ''Corallo'' tried to engage with her deck gun, but the British sloop accelerated and rammed the submarine. While suffered serious collision damage even to her inner structures, ''Corallo'' had the worst of it, and sunk with all hands (commander Guidi, 5 officers, and 43 other crew members) in the position .

Notes

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Corallo
Perla-class submarines
World War II submarines of Italy
Lost submarines of Italy
Maritime incidents in December 1942
World War II shipwrecks in the Mediterranean Sea
1936 ships
Ships built by Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico
Ships built in Monfalcone
Submarines lost with all hands
Submarines sunk by British warships